New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the demolition of Shakur Basti jhuggies, Delhi Chief Minister lambasted the callousness of the officials and said salaries of the officials must be deducted for compensating the victims of the incident.

“These officials are not humans. They are animals,” remarked Kejriwal. The demolition drive by the Railways allegedly resulted in the death of a six-month-old baby. This complete lack of empathy compelled Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, to question the insensitivity of the Railway officials.

However, the Railways denied the allegations saying the death took place before this demolition drive began.

The Railways stood firm on their decision to raze the slum claiming that these were ‘fresh’ encroachers who had illegally occupied the land.

However, the slum dwellers, countering the Railways claims, posed for a picture with their voter ID cards, which had Shakurbasti Basti registered as their address.

Their claim was validated by Satyender Jain, the Home Minister of Delhi, saying “even during Commonwealth Games, these jhuggis were not demolished. So what was the urgency now?”

He further alleged that the Railways did not pay heed to the Special Provision Act of the parliament which strictly limits reclamation of land to times of urgency.

“There is no national emergency like situation. I am sure even after six months, Railways will not start work,” Satyendra Jain said.

Kejriwal further said that, as a way of punishment, the cost incurred by the slum dwellers due to the demolition should be deducted from the salaries of the erring Railway officials.

“It will be deducted from the salaries of the officers who have conducted these raids,” he said.

He also highlighted, in a tweet, the prejudice of the railways against the poor.

“There are court orders to raze properties of some rich and politicians in Delhi. Those orders are never implemented” he tweeted.

There are court orders to raze properties of some rich n politicians in delhi. Those orders r never implemented https://t.co/Y1BXYX24uj

Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) shunned their responsibility saying that they had no information of the planned demolition. Citing a previous occasion, the DUSIB highlighted how the Railways paid insufficiently to rehabilitate those whose homes had been razed.

The new move the Arvind Kejriwal's party denounces the concept of digitalization

The BJP on Monday held Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal responsible for the death of a sanitation worker in a drain saying that the government was playing with their lives as they are not given protective gear.

“This is not the first time that such an incident has happened. Due to the negligence of the government, sanitation staff goes for cleaning sewers and dies there after inhaling toxic fumes. They are never saved even after rescue operations,” Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari told reporters here.

His remarks come a day after a sanitation worker choked to death after he got trapped inside an underground drain while cleaning it in north Delhi’s Jahroda area.

The work of cleaning the drain was being carried out by the Delhi government’s flood control department.

Sanitation workers are our helpers and Kejriwal government is playing with their lives ,www.thestatesman.com

“Sanitation workers are our helpers and Kejriwal government is playing with their lives,” he said.

Highlighting the deaths of sanitation workers in Delhi in the past few years, the BJP MP from the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency said that in September 2018, five sanitation workers died while in August 2017, 10 died inside sewers.

“Kejriwal is responsible for the deaths of sanitation workers who die while cleaning sewers and the investigating agencies should take action against him,” he said.

Attacking Kejriwal, Tiwari said, “During the last three to four years, more than 60 workers have died.”

Arvind Kejriwal giving speech during chanda bandh satyagrah

He also accused Kejriwal of not fulfilling his promise of providing safety equipment to sewer workers and mechanical sweeping.

A senior Delhi Police official said that it has registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code over the death of the sanitation worker.

The sanitation worker has been identified as Kishan, 37, a resident of north Delhi’s Wazirabad area.